Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.4

“That’s true.” Dilphina nodded.

“Right. And since you haven’t had much chance to work so far, prove your worth now! You can’t afford to lose to those twins, you know, Dil?”

Dilphina met Izolde’s frank words with a strained smile, though she couldn’t deny she harbored this concern.

That man does trust me, but compared to the twins...

It was perhaps inevitable she couldn’t match them since they had been at Ryoma’s side through thick and thin ever since he was summoned to this world. Formally speaking, they were his aides. In terms of status, Lione,who rose through the ranks to become a general under his command, and Nelcius, who commanded a major faction under the barony’s control, outranked the twins.

The height of one’s status didn’t necessarily match their degree of trust they had, as the twins had a special place at Ryoma’s side that was evident to all of the Mikoshiba barony’s retainers.

Looking in from the outside, it’s clear he’s not in intimate relations with the twins. Albeit, I don’t understand how that’s possible.

Even as a dark elf, Dilphina could tell the Malfist sisters were beautiful and were serving a young man in the prime of his manhood. Noting how the Malfist sisters made their yearning for Ryoma visible, their relationship becoming intimate seemed like a natural conclusion. Yet, it seemed this wasn’t the case.

He doesn’t seem to have a dislike for women.

If Ryoma were homosexual, she’d understand and ask her father Nelcius to have a handsome man from their tribe serve at his side instead. Some elven men were even so fair they were known as living gemstones.

But that’s not the impression I’m getting.

Dilphina thought he was attracted to women, as she’d heard of cases where he’d join Boltz and Mike, Lione’s subordinates, when they went to town to play with the ladies. He returned after dawn more than once or twice, only to be met with cold glares from the sisters and Lione.

With that in mind, it was hard to imagine Ryoma was homosexual. But for some reason, he didn’t enter intimate relations with any of the women who fancied him, and Dilphina didn’t understand why.

An Igasaki ninja came in to report, pulling Dilphina out of her thoughts.

“Someone else got caught in the net, yes?” she asked.

“They’re marching to our formation from the southwest through the forest. There’s a dozen or so of them,” the ninja replied.

She didn’t ask who sent the assassins, nor did the ninja say; it didn’t matter on whose orders they were acting.

But if I had to guess, it’s almost certainly some Rhoadserian noble who participated in the northern subjugation.

Assassinating Ryoma would undo their defeat on the Runoc Plains, and even a failed assassination attempt could stall his army’s progress. Then again, this latest bunch of attackers could be the Church of Meneos’s group, who remained on the back lines. The fact that the Mikoshiba barony was working with the dark elves, in particular, could result in the church turning against Ryoma, since expelling the demi-human races was part of their doctrine. On top of that, the O’ltormean Empire could have sent assassins too.

One would be hard-pressed to find a person who had more people wishing to take their life than Ryoma did. Looking into who sent the assassins was meaningless. Regardless of the evidence, finding and complaining to whoever had done this would achieve nothing.

Even if they captured the assassins and tortured them for information, they would not know if what they said was true or enough to accuse someone. They’d be laughed off or ignored, or denounced for making accusations based on vague evidence, then have to apologize.

Rather than deal with that meaningless question, simply disposing of the assassins was much more efficient. In this case, however, the number of attackers struck Dilphina as strange.

“Really... I’m sure you wouldn’t make a mistake here, but aren’t there quite a few of them?”

“They’re likely using temporary hires for the jobs.”

“You mean assassins hired for money?”

“Yes. Training reliable spies is difficult and requires time and money. But if one is willing to pay enough coin, there are adventurers and mercenaries who would handle the dirty work. And then there are groups like ours.”

“Yes, indeed,” Dilphina nodded. “Whoever hired them would resort to any means to see this done.”

For assassinations, two types of people would agree to do them—those lacking expert knowledge in assassination, and assassins or spies trained for this type of work. The former included family or friends helping the assassin; otherwise, they were knights or warriors moving out to eliminate a target in secret. The latter group—the trained ones—naturally achieved greater success at the job.

If one were to compare it to cooking, the former were like amateurs cooking at home, while the latter were professional chefs. Asking experts for work always seemed like the more expensive option, and training someone in your service to that end could take years and require appropriate training facilities.

The enemy had sent in over forty assassins, and those were the ones Dilphina was aware of. That number was just the ones her unit eliminated, not accounting for the other two formations marching along the same route and the hundreds of assassins she assumed they killed. But since the enemy hadn’t given up, they were quite persistent.

With that thought in mind, Dilphina began giving the order to strike back. “Fine, then. For now, let’s go about it as always. The Igasaki clan members will function as our hunting hounds. The spot will be the large rock to the southeast of here. Understood?”

The ninjas would lure the enemy to a spot where Dilphina and her Black Serpents would wait to ambush.

“Understood. We shall be off, then.” The ninja turned his back to her and disappeared into the dark woods.

Dilphina and her dark elves’ relationship with the Igasaki clan was that of equals, as both were retainers serving the Mikoshiba barony. In terms of number and their status as indigenous to the Wortenia Peninsula, Ryoma treated the dark elves with the utmost respect. Meanwhile, the Igasaki clan were experts in espionage that lived and died in the shadows, which was not necessarily true of the dark elves.

At the battle of the Runoc Plains, Nelcius led a force of ten thousand dark elves. Besides being retainers, they were cooperators and allies of the Mikoshiba barony. It was for this reason that the Igasaki clan regarded them with respect.

They do feel a bit overly formal, though.

The dark elves had high regard for their chiefs and the like but didn’t have the same class differences humans did. Dilphina realized, however, that she needed to be mindful of that when interacting with humans.

Thus, Dilphina disappeared into the woods with Izolde in tow.

†

Countless dead bodies littered the forest clearing. Many were covered in shurikens while others had snapped necks. It looked like the site of a truly gruesome battle.

Dilphina calmed down, caught her breath, and swung her bloodstained spear.

“Phew. That should do it...”

It hadn’t been a difficult battle, but slaying some experienced enemies gave Dilphina euphoria.

“Dil, we’re done on this end,” Izolde said, appearing behind her.

“Good... Is anyone hurt?”

“Nope, no one. They put up a hard fight, though.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Two enemies noticed our diversion and broke out of our encirclement, so Eustia joined the Igasaki clan members in chasing them down.”

Hearing this, Dilphina furrowed her fair brows. “Right... I suppose I underestimated our enemies. I didn’t think they’d break through our network.”

“I’m sure she’ll be back soon,” said Izolde, smiling.

Dilphina nodded. Humans weren’t gifted with good night vision, even if they could use martial thaumaturgy to bolster their eyes. Darkness that otherwise required a torch to navigate was where the dark elves were at their strongest, since they could move just as unimpeded as they could under daylight.

The Igasaki clan were humans who had better-trained night vision, but they were still no match for a dark elf’s eyes. So, they employed the help of the dark elves to secure their perimeters during the night.

The fact they broke through our patrol network is concerning, though.

The Igasaki clan’s network was so precise and careful that even an ant couldn’t slip in with them unaware. However, an enemy caught by that network created a disturbance, which no longer made it airtight. The network was like a spider web; whenever prey struggled to free itself, it could tear part of that web.

I doubt someone else will launch an attack on us at this time.

Since these spies were strong enough to give Dilphina a fair fight, they weren’t disposable pawns. The chance of another attack existed.

Or maybe someone completely separate from the first attack would try to attack now.

The chances were slim, but the question was how much she could keep that possibility in mind. Because of that, Dilphina ordered Izolde to rebuild the barrier.

“Izolde, you and everyone except those pursuing the escaped enemies are to rebuild the network.”

“Understood. What about you, Dil?”

“I’ll check that there aren’t any stragglers,” Dilphina said as she gripped her lance and hopped over to a nearby tree branch. The branch was ten meters aboveground, and to jump that high from a standstill required martial thaumaturgy.

Dilphina then closed her eyes and focused. She took a deep breath, expelling all the impure air from her body and taking in fresh air. The prana circulating in her body moved from the perineum near her tailbone to the top of her head.

This was like the microcosmic orbit, a cultivation technique in Taoism. Perhaps it was introduced to this world by an otherworlder or coincidentally developed in this world. As a dark elf warrior, Dilphina had no way of knowing what a microcosmic orbit was, nor was she too interested in the answer. To her, this was an ancient breathing technique passed down by her clan and taught to her by her father that allowed her to activate her chakras and circulate her prana.

With her senses keenly sharpened, she focused her nerves on the dark forest around her.

That’s the presence of animals. A deer or a bear, perhaps.

She felt the breath of several life-forms, but they weren’t human. A moment later, Dilphina sensed something else. Someone else, a third party hidden in the nearby trees.

This is...

His presence was so faint she wouldn’t have noticed it without focus, and anyone who didn’t have Dilphina and Nelcius’s skills wouldn’t have detected him through the trees. For a brief moment, he gave off a presence that differed from the animals and the trees.

I’m not imagining this. This person is intentionally cloaking their presence.

Which meant this was an enemy. At that moment, Dilphina’s let out a sharp whistle. This was a signal decided ahead of time, which meant they were all to switch to high alert.

“A hundred meters to the southwest, in the shadows of the trees!” she shouted and lunged off the branch, speeding toward her target. In coordination with her movements, Izolde swiftly led the surrounding troops to charge in the direction Dilphina specified. That’s him!

Soon enough, Dilphina spotted Tachibana hiding behind the trees. She shouted, demanding to know who he was as she descended upon him.

†

Having identified his attacker, Genzou Tachibana’s eyes widened in surprise.

Dark elves... Dammit!

He briefly noticed the attacker’s fair features and distinctive pointed ears lit up in the moonlight, marking her as nonhuman. Few places in the western continent were home to demi-humans, and no elven settlements were in these woods. So the answer was clear.

What should I do? At this rate, they’ll think I’m one of their enemies and kill me!

Though panicked, Tachibana thought quickly on his feet. He hadn’t expected to be detected like this and have to fight here. Although his heart was in shock, the rest of his body reflexively took position to intercept the attack. After all, one had to put their life on the line to survive in this world. Anyone who couldn’t defend themselves from an attack wouldn’t last.

Tachibana drew the baton on his belt and desperately blocked the spear aimed at his throat. This was his weapon of choice, used to navigate danger even before being brought to this world. He trusted this baton more than any pistol.

An intense crashing sound shook the night and sparks sprayed through the air. His opponent did hold back somewhat, but if he’d taken that blow head-on, he’d have been knocked out.

Dammit! Do I have to fight?!

Fighting was the worst possible development here, but it didn’t seem like he’d be able to run away. This attacker discovered Tachibana when he tried to hide. Moreover, Tachibana was alone and isolated, but the same wasn’t true of Dilphina. The more time passed, the more the enemy tightened their net around him.

No, fighting here would be bad. But if I can’t run...

Tachibana then made up his mind after going through the alternatives and chose a gamble. He leaped back a step’s distance, threw away his baton, and raised his hands.

“What is this?” Dilphina asked, her spear aligned horizontally and fixed on him. “If you’re trying to get me to lower my guard, it won’t work.”

Dilphina knew that the right choice would have been to skewer him. Even so, he was skilled enough to block her blow even though she struck with the intent of killing. Despite that, he discarded his weapon and seemed to surrender. Once Dilphina displayed curiosity toward him, his plan worked.

“My name is Genzou Tachibana. I’m here to deliver a letter to Baron Mikoshiba. Please, allow me to meet with him.”

And so, Tachibana revealed his name and intentions, believing that was the best option.